Core Director: Youfa Wang;Co-director: Thomas Glass Core Summary: The Johns Hopkins Systems-Oriented Pediatric Obesity Research and Training (SPORT) Center consists of 4 cores and 3 research projects. Our team includes a multidisciplinary combination of expertise, with over 40 well established investigators and collaborators from leading research institutions in the U.S. and other countries. This team brings a unique combination of expertise in areas that provides a strong foundation for the proposed research, training, and outreach activities. The expertise includes childhood obesity, systems science, nutrition, epidemiology, biostatistics, sociology, health economics, basic science, genetics, medicine, minority health &health disparities, child growth and development, mathematical modeling, and engineering. The Johns Hopkins University, with the Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHBSPH), the world's largest school of public health, offers outstanding support, excellent computational core resources, and extensive opportunities for collaborative interactions with experts in related disciplines. Our main partner institutions (University of Pennsylvania, the Canadian Chronic Disease Systems Modeling Lab, the China CDC, and the Peking University School of Public Health), in addition to the NIH and other Center team members, will provide additional expertise and resources. As described in the RFA, the main governing body will be the SPORT Steering Committee (SSC) comprised of NIH partners and SPORT Center representatives. The Administrative Core will be led by the Center Pl and Co-PI working with an Executive Committee comprised of the core/project directors, other selected team members, and NIH representatives (as appropriate to the U54 mechanism). An Advisory Board (internal and external senior faculty with content and administrative expertise), and an overall Scientific Advisory Committee (internal) as well as various other working groups and subcommittees that are also proposed. The Center Director and Co-director will manage the daily activities of the Center and supervise related research, training and supporting staff. We will work closely with international and US partners, along with relevant NIH staff to insure successful completion of the overall objectives of the SPORT initiative.